It\u2019s not because I don\u2019t have dreams, but it\u2019s simply because I never stopped long enough to think about my own. Life moved fast \u2013 faith, family, the studio, challenges, people\u2026I\u2019ve poured years into others, helping them believe in their strength, their potential, and their stories. And it has been amazing!<\/p>\n
But there\u2019s also something else that made me give up on bucket lists \u2013 when we lost our mom to cancer, time changed shape for me. The illusion of \u2018someday\u2019 quietly slipped away, and life itself became urgent and precious. I learned that moments don\u2019t wait; that joy must be gathered while it\u2019s within reach. And, that the ordinary is extraordinary when seen through the eyes of loss.<\/p>\n
I guess my dreams stopped living on paper, and started living in the now \u2013 not as a list, but as a way of being\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n Don\u2019t get me wrong \u2013 I have the greatest admiration for people with bucket lists. Michelle wants to take on the bungee jump at Bloukrans, throwing herself into 216 metres of open air. A few weeks ago I overheard Izelde when she told Melinda how she would love to visit the National Park in Canada \u2013 and I totally get it! People say there\u2019s a silence that speaks louder than words \u2013 where snowcapped peaks pierce the sky, and emerald lakes mirror a world so pristine it feels sacred.<\/p>\n I truly admire people who dare to dream wildly and fill their bucket lists with daring, crazy, and bold adventures: Swimming with crocodiles in a protective cage in Darwin, dog sledding under the Northern Lights, spending the night in a transparent capsule on a cliff face in Peru, riding in a submarine to the ocean floor in Monterey Bay. Skydiving. Learning French. Travelling to 30 countries. Visiting the Niagara Falls\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2026I couldn\u2019t help but smile when Jeannine, a friend of mine from Pretoria, recently told me about her bucket list experience to row on the Orange River with her family\u2026She anticipated the stillness between strokes, the quiet days, the campfires and fish eagles. Alas, the adventure was nothing short of traumatic for her 11-year-old son \u2013 the rapids, the heat, the long days with blistered hands. When it was all over, he looked at her with wide eyes and said: \u201cMommy, from now on, I first need to approve all your other bucket list ideas\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Bucket lists are great, because humans need variety and out-of-the-comfort-zone moments. People with bucket lists have told me how those things help bring back excitement and variety into their lives\u2026I think knowing that you have items on your list that are fun and thrilling, can really fill you with joy for the future, as well as delight for today\u2026And it\u2019s wonderful to dream, as long as the reason for your bucket list, is not only something to check off a list\u2026<\/p>\n But still \u2013 the notion of collecting experiences has always struck me as rather hollow. \u00a0A bucket list should not become a guilt-inducing to-do-list. I believe it should be a meaningful experience\u2026If someone wants to go to the South Pole because it\u2019s one of the last truly untouched places on Earth \u2013 excellent! Or, because few people reach that destination \u2013 awesome! Or even because they\u2019ve always been fascinated by penguins \u2013 great! But if it won\u2019t have any impact on you, or you\u2019re doing it just to have done it, the experience will sit there in your mind like a lump of oatmeal in porridge.<\/p>\n In her book, \u201cJust One Day\u201d, the renowned author Gayle Forman says: \u201cDon\u2019t worry, I plan on living a long time.\u201d \u201cWhy are you making a bucket list, then?\u201d \u201cBecause if you wait until you\u2019re really dying, it\u2019s too late\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Rather than dreaming of the end (which is what a bucket list is named for \u2013 things to do before you kick the bucket), I think we should view our wish lists as experiences we\u2019d like to do or have, in order to live our best lives; lives aligned with our passion and purpose.<\/strong><\/p>\n If I\u2019m being brutally honest today, I have to admit that I\u2019ve spent years cheering from the sidelines. Telling others: Climb the mountain! Run the race! Enter the Challenge! Lose the weight! Write the book! I\u2019ve encouraged hundreds of women to fight for their dreams. I\u2019ve witnessed transformations, tears, and triumphs. And I meant every single word I said\u2026<\/p>\n What I didn\u2019t always do, was turn that same energy inward.<\/p>\n Somewhere in the middle of coaching, teaching, supporting, and showing up for everyone else, I forgot to show up for me. And the one dream that always lingered \u2013 quietly, gently \u2013 was this: to write a book. Not for fame. Not for anyone else. Just for the girl inside me who needed to know that her story mattered too.<\/p>\n So, I tucked it away.\u00a0 Said things like, \u201cOne day.\u201d Pushed it back with a smile and a shrug. Until now.<\/p>\n Something shifted this year. Maybe it\u2019s age (hell no!). Maybe it\u2019s watching others rise. Maybe it\u2019s my oldest sister, Delien, who has nudged me to finally turn the dream into reality. Maybe. It doesn\u2019t matter; I\u2019m finally getting my book published!<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n This book is my mountain. My bucket list beckoning\u2026<\/p>\n \u2026What dream have you shelved, thinking it was too late, or too selfish, or too bold? What beckons your soul? What is calling your name?<\/strong><\/p>\n Pause. Think. Dust it off. Look it in the eye. And begin. Show up for yourself. Whether it\u2019s writing, painting, learning, running, healing, or starting again \u2013 do it scared. Do it small. But do it.<\/strong><\/p>\n Because the woman who never had a bucket list is finally ticking off something.<\/strong><\/p>\n And my hope? Is that you\u2019ll do the same.<\/strong><\/p>\n Yours in fitness<\/em><\/p>\n Mirna PS (If you\u2019re a Challenge member, please send me your bucket list dream before Sunday 20.00, so that I can nudge you too! Don\u2019t have one? Send me a WhatsApp anyway to earn your extra point)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What dream have you shelved, thinking it was too late, or too selfish, or too bold?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":3260,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[321],"class_list":["post-3259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-manoeuvres","tag-bucket-list"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n
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